COMMUNITY SCHOOLS DIRECTOR

Who We Are

New Paradigm For Education (NPFE) is a non-profit Charter Management Organization (CMO) composed of educational practitioners, community advocates, and business leaders who have dedicated years of service to children. NPFE serves 2,100 students in Detroit, Michigan. We specialize in maximizing student learning potential through proven education practices and managing all phases of school design, planning, and program implementation.

Why New Paradigm for Education:

NPFE is on a mission to ensure that all students in Detroit achieve at the highest levels, supporting educational transformation through increased student achievement, fiscal responsibility, and community support. NPFE’s Mission is to provide a quality education through shared responsibility in a safe supportive environment for all students to meet the needs of a global society. We are “Committed to Excellence.” We act as a portal to educational reform in high-need areas and offer a new educational paradigm evident by increased student achievement, fiscal responsibility, and community support.

What You’ll Do

NPFE seeks a Community School Director to lead a first of its kind in community schools model in Detroit, including the design, implementation, and supervision of a set of programmatic preventions, interventions, and enrichment activities designed to support the holistic development of students and ensure that all student and family needs are being met so that students can thrive in and around school. The Community School Director works in partnership with network Executives and building Principals to design, develop, supervise and ensure the success and sustainability of all community school programming in and connected to the schools, including but not limited to:

• Attendance support and interventions

• Family support services (i.e. food pantry, clothes closet, tax preparation support, English Language courses, etc.)

• Family engagement and community-building

Health and wellness services and initiatives (medical, dental, mental health, health and wellness, etc.)

• Enrichment activities including those that occur during the school day, after school, and summer

The Community School Director is a leader who empowers, builds, creates, and develops relationships across multiple, diverse stakeholders in order to implement a sustainable community school strategy guided by a community school plan.

Job Requirements

EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree or Master’s Degree

• 5-7 years of experience working in community organizing, building community partnerships, or related work

• Demonstrated success in grant writing/grant management

• Significant experience leading teams to demonstrated success

KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS

• Excellent organizational and time management skills

• Strong communication skills (both written and verbal)

• Commitment to professional development

• A demonstrated goal orientation and focus on outcomes and results

• A demonstrated ability to work across a diverse set of stakeholders

• A demonstrated ability to effectively work with students who have been traditionally under-served

• Ability to work independently and handle multiple tasks with exceptional attention to detail

• Ability to work cooperatively with team and colleagues, forging consensus and paths forward

• Professionalism, sound judgment, foresight, and maturity

• An entrepreneurial spirit that embraces creativity and hard work inherent in a start-up setting

Duties & Responsibilities

The Community School Director is responsible for ensuring that the barriers to learning that may exist for each individual student and/or family are eliminated and/or significantly reduced. The Director will be expected to do the following:

• Support the execution of community school programming while at the same time supervising a team of staff members responsible for the program delivery

• Assure the high-quality functioning of all community school programming including: (health, dental, mental health, family support services).

• Build and maintain partnerships with a diverse set of stakeholders to support the community schools vision, including but not limited to - community agencies, funders, support providers, school leaders, families, community leaders, etc.

• Form partnerships with agencies in the community that enrich the school environment and will provide services for children and families: mental health, afterschool, summer camps, arts, sports, health/dental, adult programs, mentoring, etc. Build strong and lasting relationships with these agencies to ensure sustainability and success.

• Seek out and apply for grants to maintain and grow a portfolio of support services, ensuring timely adherence to grant reporting requirements, data collection, and budget tracking

• Increase and strengthen family engagement initiatives.

• Develop systems to track programming progress and evaluate effectiveness of activities.

• Represent the school in community meetings and events including but not limited to diversity, social-emotional initiatives, homelessness, community school improvement meetings, etc.

• Support attendance initiatives.

• Use the tools and resources provided to track student progress around goals.

• Work with the Principal, leadership team, teachers and other stakeholders to identify and coordinate academic, socioemotional, and health needs and resources for students and their families.

• Develop a clear and data-driven yearlong plan for the coordination and delivery of services

• Foster positive and healthy relationships with each member of the school community.

• Participate in on-going training and professional development.

• Maintain regular communication with students’ parents/caregivers in order to support the school’s parent engagement initiatives.

• Use the resources available to meet the needs of students on a daily basis

• Perform other duties as needed or assigned